Illiteracy Around the World
THE census of illiterates in the various countries of the world has recently been published by the Statistische Monatschrift. According to this the three Slavic States, Roumania, Servia, and Russia, head the list with about 80 per cent. of the population unable to read and write. Of the Latin races Spain leads with 63 per cent., followed by Italy with 48 per cent., France and Belgium with about 15 per cent. The illiterates in Hungary are under 43 per cent., in Austria 39, in Ireland 21, in England 13, Holland 10, United States (white population) 8, Scotland 7 per cent. The Teutonic races are the best favored in this regard, Switzerland with only 2½ per cent, Germany, as an empire, only 1, while in Sweden, Denmark, Bavaria, Baden, and Württemberg there is practically no one who cannot read and write.